SOC30570 Solidarities, Power and Difference

Academic Year 2020/2021

PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE HAS A CENTRAL FOCUS ON INTERACTIVE, BODY-BASED AND VISUAL ARTS-BASED FORMS OF LEARNING. BECAUSE THESE HAVE HAD TO BE ADAPTED FOR ON-LINE TEACHING, STUDENTS MUST BE OKAY ABOUT BEING VISIBLE DURING ZOOM SESSIONS FOR FULL CLASS, SEMINAR AND INDEPENDENT PROJECT PARTNER-BASED WORK; THESE WILL ALSO INVOLVE THE USE OF ZOOM RECORDING.

PLEASE ALSO BE AWARE THAT EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INVOLVING CRITICAL SELF-REFLECTION AND COLLECTIVE EXPLORATION AND DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES OF PERSONAL AND POLITICAL POWER, PRIVILEGE AND DIFFERENCE CAN BE DIFFICULT WORK TO UNDERTAKE.

STUDENTS SHOULD ALSO PLAN TO ACQUIRE SOME BASIC & INEXPENSIVE ART SUPPLIES (EURO SHOP IS FINE) AND SOFTBOUND A2 SIZE SKETCHBOOK

DO CONTACT ME TO DISCUSS ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS IN ADVANCE OF THE TERM: alice.feldman@ucd.ie

The acceleration of profound, complex and intertwined global conflicts and planetary crises has seen the growth of collective actions that traverse ever greater expanses of social, political and geographical terrains and actors. Consider movements such as Occupy, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, the 2017 Women’s Marches, Ni Una Menos, the School Climate Strikes, and more recently the extraordinary global digital collective projects galvanised by the pandemic. Calls for ‘solidarity’ have become ubiquitous, a taken-for-granted element of the radical and transformative interventions necessary in the face of such challenges. The rise of online and hashtag activism, enhanced by the increasing variety and sophistication of social media platforms, has revolutionised social movement organising, providing globally accessible platforms that make it possible for people to ‘stand in solidarity with’ others around the world.

This scenario, however, belies the equally compelling, longstanding and vocal politics of representation: Who speaks and for whom?; of voice: Who is/can be heard?; of privilege: How do social and structural inequalities, power relations and positionalities among movement actors mediate movement organising?; and of the ongoing legacies of historical and ongoing colonialisms: What does it mean to mobilise on unceded indigenous territories?

The ongoing failures to effectively address these fundamental and ‘difficult’ issues continue to undermine the success of these extraordinary mobilisations.

The term, ‘solidarity’, and many of the ideas that constitute the ‘received’ understandings and practices relating to it, are problematic and contentious. The notion of solidarity is often conflated with other terms such as empathy and reciprocity, and ‘used in reference to a vast range of social phenomena, from social cohesion to social movements, from political to civic organization, from religious duty to racial obligation’ (Gaztambides-Fernandez 2012, 46). Moreover, solidarity can be defined according to any number of criteria including particular moral principles, personal characteristics, values, actions and duties, the understandings of which are assumed to be shared ones (Ibid). However, more than just an ideal, a theory or a condition, solidarity is ultimately a relational phenomenon, a process of relationship-building.

Considered in this way, rather than taken as given, solidarity actually constitutes a project in and of itself. It is a project that involves – if not necessitates -- working through the relational conflicts around difference as part of rather than ancillary to the work of social justice movements. They very much are intertwined because the foundations of conflicts regarding representation, voice and privilege are inextricably linked to the circumstances giving rise to the very injustices collective actions to transform. As such, the project of solidary relations is one that arises through an ethics of critically reflexive engagement around these issues.

This course delves into the examination of the relational dynamics, politics and practices that underpin – and often determine the course of -- social justice mobilisations. It focuses on the questions How does solidarity actually evolve? What constitutes solidary relations? In what ways can personal, political, cultural differences and circumstances – which are often vast, contradictory and in tension with each other – be negotiated and even maintained while working collectively? How can collective actors cultivate the skills of critical reflexivity necessary to effectively engage in this type of work?

Show/hide contentOpenClose All

Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

This module is designed to foster learning outcomes for students to (1) become well versed in the urgent scholarly and practice-led debates relating to the politics of difference in the contexts of contemporary collective social justice actions, (2) develop skills necessary for effective critical social analysis of solidarity encounters, politics and transformative interventions, and (3) explore, and ideally, cultivate practices of self and collective reflexivity that can be used and shared in on-the-ground mobilisational contexts.

Indicative Module Content:

This course seeks to encourage the exploration and cultivation of critical scholarship and practices regarding solidary relations, collective actions and societal transformations.

It delves into the examination of the relational dynamics, politics and practices that underpin – and often determine the course of -- social justice mobilisations. It focuses on the questions: How does solidarity actually evolve? What constitutes solidary relations? In what ways can personal, political, cultural differences and circumstances – which are often vast, contradictory and in tension with each other – be negotiated and even maintained while working collectively? How can collective actors cultivate the skills of critical reflexivity and social analysis necessary to effectively engage in this type of work?

We will draw on and draw together a range of theoretical and empirical interdisciplinary scholarship – eg., social movements, transnational/Black/queer feminisms, indigenous and decolonial studies.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12

Seminar (or Webinar)

12

Conversation Class

12

Specified Learning Activities

100

Autonomous Student Learning

85

Total

221

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE HAS A CENTRAL FOCUS ON INTERACTIVE, BODY-BASED AND VISUAL ARTS-BASED FORMS OF LEARNING. BECAUSE THESE HAVE HAD TO BE ADAPTED FOR ON-LINE TEACHING, STUDENTS MUST BE OKAY ABOUT BEING VISIBLE DURING ZOOM SESSIONS FOR FULL CLASS, SEMINAR AND INDEPENDENT PROJECT PARTNER-BASED WORK; THESE WILL ALSO INVOLVE THE USE OF ZOOM RECORDING.

STUDENTS SHOULD ALSO PLAN TO ACQUIRE SOME BASIC & INEXPENSIVE ART SUPPLIES (EURO SHOP IS FINE) AND SOFTBOUND A2 SIZE SKETCHBOOK

The focus of the module pedagogy is to cultivate a community of practice through a variety of modes of individual, small group and collective reflection, analysis and engagement -- involving exploration of personal/interactional, case study/empirical and theoretical ideas and materials. Given the central role played by embodied, relational dynamics in the politics and practices of solidarity, we also will be incorporating embodied, experiential forms of learning in the class. Arts-based and creative practices will be used to interrupt, challenge and expand the standard practices of reading, discussion and presentation– as well as the political and academic perspectives we will be engaging with. This will involve such activities as journaling, drawing and collaging as well as role playing, movement and choreography techniques, alongside experimentation with forms of social analysis and critique such as blogging, archiving, exhibition and so on. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: A critical account of solidarity concepts and potential practices based on experiential work and drawing on course literature. 1500-2000 words. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

25

Portfolio: A portfolio of weekly assignments; a multi-media space for working through - and sometimes exchanging or presenting - ideas, issues, debates re: the course objectives and materials Week 7 n/a Graded No

45

Group Project: A small group empirical case study exploring and analysing key issues, debates, practices and scholarship involving a collective action/movement of students' choice Week 12 n/a Graded No

30


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

This module is guided by what is referred to as a 'lived curriculum' (Aoki) - the curriculum-as-planned and what evolves in the lives of those participating in the module over the course of the trimester. Thus much of the coursework is on-going through the semester in response to and conversation with the weekly syllabus, what emerges during the course through collective class engagement with the experiential work, and the continual effects of wider social movement/collective actions and social changes taking place outside of the classroom. Each type of assessment plays a role in different, key module topics, objectives and activities. In all cases, students will receive guidance as they are engaging with their assignments and developing the visual, written and performed work, and will receive feedback from me upon their completion; in some cases, where appropriate, relevant and agreed, and because a collective 'community of practice' dynamic will be cultivated as part of the learning environment, this will involve reflection, response and feedback from peers.